Fabric decorating kit

ABSTRACT

A clothing kit for dolls which includes articles of doll clothing made of fabric, the fabric having a preprinted design thereon so that the clothes can be colored within or along the design according to taste. The articles of clothing have snap-on decorative trim and accessories. Also included in the kit is a fabric stretcher which generally includes a flexible band which forms a generally circular loop. The loop is self-biased toward a circular configuration and has a diameter greater than the greatest distance between interior opposing surfaces of a partially closed article of clothing. When the band is resiliently forced into an article of doll clothing, the fabric is stretched outwardly around the band holding the fabric such that opposite sides of the fabric are spaced from each other. When the fabric is so held around the band, the fabric may be colored by an ink felt pen or other appropriate marking member without the liquid color running from one sheet of the fabric to an opposite sheet across the interior of the clothing.

United States Patent [1 1 Glass et al.

[451 Sept. 10, 1974 FABRIC DECORATING KIT [75] Inventors: Marvin 1.Glass; Bette M. Kaelin;

Allison W. Katzman, all of Chicago, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates,

Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Feb. 16, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 333,182

[52] U.S. Cl. 46/1 R, 2/75, 2/243 B [51] Int. Cl A63h 33/00 [58] Fieldof Search 46/1 R; 2/243 B, 75, 265; 38/102, 102.1, 102.2, 102.3, 141;223/63, 65, 111, 112; 269/481 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 971,969 10/1910 Bullis 223/65 X 1,456,764 5/1923 Corbin...223/65 X 1,476,310 12/1923 Sicklen 223/63 1,555,255 9/1925 Roberts223/63 2,382,907 8/1945 Persin 2/265 2,868,424 l/l959 l-lelton 223/633,482,744 12/1969 Schlemon 223/63 Primary Examiner-Antonio F. GuidaAssistant Examiner-J. Q. Lever Attorney, Agent, or FirmCoffee & Sweeney5 7] ABSTRACT A clothing kit for dolls which includes articles of dollclothing made of fabric, the fabric having a preprinted design thereonso that the clothes can be colored within or along the design accordingto taste. The articles of clothing have snap-on decorative trim andaccessories. Also included in the kit is a fabric stretcher whichgenerally includes a flexible band which forms a generally circularloop. The loop is self-biased toward a circular configuration and has adiameter greater than the greatest distance between interior opposingsurfaces of a partially closed article of clothing. When the band isresiliently forced into an article of doll clothing, the fabric isstretched outwardly around the band holding the fabric such thatopposite sides of the fabric are spaced from each other. When the fabricis so held around the band, the fabric may be colored by an ink felt penor other appropriate marking member without the liquid color runningfrom one sheet of the fabric to an opposite sheet across the interior ofthe clothing.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention This invention relates to clothing for dolls or the like.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art Dolls and particularly dolls withremovable clothes have always been favorite items for childrenthroughout the years. Some articles of doll clothing are made of fabricwhich is usually presewn or formed to the shape of a desired item ofclothing, such as dresses, pants, or the like. The fabric which is usedto form the clothing can be thought of as having an outside surface uponwhich a design is preprinted thereon, and an inside surface which formsthe interior of an article of clothing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The principal object of the present inventionis to provide new and improved clothing for dolls, or the like, usingremovable trim and accessories.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new means ofdecorating doll clothing by liquid coloring, along with means forsupporting the fabric in a stretching manner so that the coloring willnot run from one sheet of the fabric to a juxtaposed sheet while thecoloring is applied thereto.

These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by oneembodiment currently contemplated which provides for trim andaccessories to decorate the articles of clothing, and attaching meansfor removably securing the trim or accessories to the a11;icles ofclothing. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the attachingmeans is in the form of male and female snap means.

The fabric has a preprinted design at least on the outside surfacethereof. The design provides an outline so that one may color the fabricwithin or along the outline in any desired color by suitable coloringmeans.

The doll clothing kit also includes fabric supporting means forinsertion within the interior of an article of clothing to be colored.The fabric supporting means stretches and holds the fabric in such a waythat the inside surfaces of the garment or other article of clothing donot touch. Therefore, liquid coloring will not run from one sheet offabric to the other across the interior of the item of clothing.

The fabric supporting means generally includes a flexible band whichforms a generally circular loop. The loop is self-biased toward acircular configuration and has a diameter greater than the greatestdistance between opposing inside surfaces of the items of clothing to becolored. The fabric is stretched around the portion of the band as it isresiliently forced into the article of clothing.

The fabric stretching band also includes holding means for preventingthe band from slipping out of the interior of an article of clothingafter insertion therein. The band holding means includes a resilientstring connected at one end to an outside portion of the band and havinga clip at the other end for connection to the fabr1c.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofvarious items of doll clothing used with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of an article of clothing showingthe snap fastening means;

FIG. 3is a perspective view of the fabric stretching means used in thepresent invention; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of an article ofclothing held by the fabric stretching means of FIG. 3, preparatory tocoloring.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to FIG. 1 in greaterdetail, various items of the doll clothing of the present invention areshown. Articles of clothing include, specifically, a dress 10, briefsl2, and a pantsuit l4. Decorative trim and accessories in the form of ascarf 16, bow 18, flower 20 and belt 22 also are provided. Thedecorative trim and accessories are adapted to be removably secured tothe articles of clothing.

The fabric comprising the dress 10 and pantsuit 14 has a preprinteduncolored outline design 23 thereon.

This design 23 is intended to be colored in or along by a child withdifferent colored felt pens 24, or other appropriate marking means,according to his taste.

The decorative trim and accessories, and the articles of clothing haveattaching means in the form of male and female snap means. Specifically,dress 10 has female snaps 26a and 26b, pantsuit 14 has female snaps 26c,26d and 26e; belt 22 has female snap 26f and male snap 26g; bow 18 hasmale snap 26h; flower 20 has male snap 26i. Scarf 16 has twodouble-sided snaps 26j and 26k, one side being female and the other sidebeing male. By providing the articles with the snap means, a child isable to removably and interchangeably place any decorative effect on anypiece of clothing.

As best shown in FIG. 2, snap 26k of scarf 16 snaps into snap 26j on theother end of the scarf forming a closed loop. In this configuration thescarf still has the male portion of snap 26j facing inwardly and thefemale portion of snap 26k facing outwardly. The snap 261' of the flower20 then can be snapped into the female portion of snap 26k and the maleportion of snap 26] can be snapped into the female snap 26a on the dress10 or snap 260 on the pantsuit 14 (See FIG. 1).

The bow 18 may be snapped into snaps 26a, 26b or 260 on either the dressor pantsuit. Likewise, the belt 22 can be snapped together around thewaist of either the dress 10 or pantsuit 14.

For ease of discussion, the fabric comprising an article of clothingsuch as the pantsuit 14 will be deemed to comprise an outside surface 28whereon the design 23 is printed, and an inside surface 30. The insidesurface 30 of the fabric when formed in an article of doll clothingforms an enclosed interior with openings 32 for the differentappendages, leg openings, arm openings and head openings (See FIGS. 1and 4).

The problem with coloring the doll clothing with liquid coloring from afelt pen 24 is that the coloring is likely to bleed through the fabricfrom one sheet to an adjacent juxtaposed sheet. Accordingly, when anarticle of clothing is laid flat on a surface, liquid coloring which isapplied to an outside surface 28 of the fabric will run and bleedthrough the fabric and the interior of the article of clothing resultingin discoloration of the outside surface 28 of the sheet fabrictherebeneath. In order to prevent this running or bleeding, a fabricsupporting means, generally designated 34, is provided.

As best shown in FIG. 3, the fabric supporting means 34 is seen togenerally comprise a spring steel band 36 having means, generallydesignated 38, at the ends thereof for connecting the band 36 into agenerally circular loop. The connecting means 38 include a tab 40 at oneend and a mating 90 angularly oriented slot 42 at the other end. Theband is adapted to be twisted to fit tab 40 into the slot 42 andreleased for interengagemerit, closing the loop.

ln use,the fabric supporting means 34 is inserted into one of theappendage openings 32. As shown in FIG. 4, the band 36 is forced into aleg of the pantsuit 14. Because the band 36 is resilient, it can bedeformed in order to insert it within the interior of an article ofclothing whereupon it tends to expand to stretch the fabric. As one canappreciate, due to its resiliency, the band 36 will have a tendency toslip out of the interior of an article of clothing through the appendageopening 32. In order to prevent this, band holding means, generallydesignated 44 is secured between the fabric and the inside of the band.The band holding means 44 generally includes a resilient stretchablestring or rubber band 46 attached to the band 36 at one end thereof bymeans of a retaining ring 48 and has an alligator clip 50 secured to theother end of the string 46. In use, the clip 50 is secured to the fabricas shown in FIG. 4 to hold the band within the article of clothing.

wtaaihe"raaa asgaang ineans 3 4 is inserted in an article of clothing asabove described and as shown in FIG. 4, none of the inside surfaces 30of the fabric touch one another. Accordingly, a child coloring thefabric with a liquid color would not discolor any other fabric by virtueof bleeding or running across the interior of an article of clothing.

- H5156gliYlie inveT ibh diselbsed herein has been directed or orientedto doll clothing, it is to be understood that various of the features,particularly the stretch band'for fabric coloring and its relatedcomponents could be used as well with childrens clothing, for instance.

' Thefoi'eg oingdetailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in theart.

We claim: I. A fabric decorating kit comprising: at least one article offabric formed in a generally tubular configuration, said article offabric having a continuous inside surface and a continuous outsidesurface, and outside surface of the fabric having a preprinted outlineddesign thereon for coloring according to taste; generally liquidcoloring means for coloring the outside surface of the fabric withinsaid design; and

fabric supporting means for insertion within the tubular interior ofsaid article of clothing and for holding and stretching the fabric sothat the inside surface will not touch itself, whereby said supportingmeans may be inserted in said article of fabric so that when coloringthe article the liquid coloring will not run from the outside surface onone side of the tubular article of fabric through the interior thereofto the outside surface on the other side of said article of fabric.

2. The kit of claim 1 wherein said fabric supporting means includes aflexible resilient band forming a generally closed loop, said loop beingself-biased toward a circular configuration having a diameter greaterthan the greatest distance between interior opposing surfaces of thearticle of fabric, whereby the band can be forced into an article offabric through an opening therein so that at least a portion of the bandis positioned within the interior of the fabric whereupon the fabric isstretched around the enclosed portion of said band.

3. The kit of claim 2 wherein said band comprises a resilient elongatedflat thin strip joined at its end by connecting means.

4. The kit of claim 2 wherein said fabric supporting means includes bandholding means for preventing the band from slipping out of the interiorof an article of fabric after insertion therein.

5. The kit of claim 4 wherein the band is sufficiently large that aportion of the loop thereof extends outside of the fabric and said bandholding means includes resilient string means connected at one end tothe outside portion of the band, and means at the other end of thestring means for removably connecting the string means to the fabric.

1. A fabric decorating kit comprising: at least one article of fabricformed in a generally tubular configuration, said article of fabrichaving a continuous inside surface and a continuous outside surface, andoutside surface of the fabric having a preprinted outlined designthereon for coloring according to taste; generally liquid coloring meansfor coloring the outside surface of the fabric within said design; andfabric supporting means for insertion within the tubular interior ofsaid article of clothing and for holding and stretching the fabric sothat the inside surface will not touch itself, whereby said supportingmeans may be inserted in said article of fabric so that when coloringthe article the liquid coloring will not run from the outside surface onone side of the tubular article of fabric through the interior thereofto the outside surface on the other side of said article of fabric. 2.The kit of claim 1 wherein said fabric supporting means includes aflexible resilient band forming a generally closed loop, said loop beingself-biased toward a circular configuration having a diameter greaterthan the greatest distance between interior opposing surfaces of thearticle of fabric, whereby the band can be forced into an article offabric through an opening therein so that at least a portion of the bandis positioned within the interior of the fabric whereupon the fabric isstretched around the enclosed portion of said band.
 3. The kit of claim2 wherein said band comprises a resilient elongated flat thin stripjoined at its end by connecting means.
 4. The kit of claim 2 whereinsaid fabric supporting means includes band holding means for preventingthe band from slipping out of the interior of an article of fabric afterinsertion therein.
 5. The kit of claim 4 wherein the band issufficiently large that a portion of the loop thereof extends outside ofthe fabric and said band holding means includes resilient string meansconnected at one end to the outside portion of the band, and means atthe other end of the string means for removably connecting the stringmeans to the fabric.